Templars
The Templars The Templar Order, also known as the Order of the Knights Templar, were a monastic military order-turned-corporate giant, which was formed during the prehistoric era. The Templars sought to create a perfect world, although the means by which they aimed to do so - through force, control and the destruction of free will - directly contrasted the ideals of their sworn enemies, the Assassin Order. Because of this difference in ideology, the Templars became involved in a covert war against the Assassins, spanning centuries, with their opposition's motivating belief being that mankind should always have the ability to choose; to have the freedom of liberty, even if it meant accepting that humanity would always be flawed in their ways. HistoryEdit PrehistoryEdit The organization that would later be known as the Templar Order was likely founded by Cain, whose 'mark' was used as the Templars' crest. They quickly became the archenemies of the Assassins, who, as opposed to the Templars, fought to allow the people to retain free will.[5] Ancient worldEdit Aiding the Achaemenid EmpireEdit During the Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia, the Templars aided King Darius I when he overthrew the usurper of the Empire and became the king of Persia.[6] The Templars continued to aid his son, Xerxes I, during his invasions of Greece.[6] Assisting Alexander the GreatEdit The Templars' influence reached out to Macedonia, where they succeeded in allying themselves with Alexander the Great. As a symbol of their alliance, the Templars entrusted Alexander with one of the Staves of Eden, which helped Alexander to create one of the largest empires in history and become one of the most successful military commanders.[6] However, Assassin interference resulted in Alexander's poisoning in 323 BCE, by the Babylonian Assassin Iltani.[5] Qin DynastyEdit The Templars also became strong allies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China and also the founder of several of China's most famous landmarks.[6] Qin Shi Huang was killed by the Chinese Assassin Wei Yu in 210 BCE.[5] Infiltrating the SPQREdit During the Roman era, the Templars heavily influenced and manipulated the leadership of the Roman Empire, namely its emperors and the ruling body, the SPQR. Their intervention in the empire's actions was continuously thwarted by the Assassins, however. A notable example of this was the plot against Gaius Julius Caesar, who was heavily influenced by the Templars, who was appointed as a dictator for life. Forty Assassins, most notably Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, had infiltrated Caesar's inner circle as senators. They planned to assassinate Caesar, a plan which they successfully executed on 15 March 44 BC.[7] Sometime later, the Templar-allied queen[6] of Egypt, Cleopatra, was killed by the Assassin Amunet in 30 BCE.[5] Additionally, on 24 January 41, the Assassin Leonius stabbed Caligula, another Templar-influenced emperor, with a dagger.[5] Crucifixion of JesusEdit During the 1st century, they found out that one of the Pieces of Eden, the Shroud, was in the hands of Jesus Christ. Wanting the Piece for their own purposes, the Templars crucified Jesus in order to gain it.[5] Retrieving of the AnkhEdit http://images.wikia.com/assassinscreed/images/4/49/AquilusStabbed.jpgGracchus stabbing Aquilus.Added by RapnoizeBy 259, the Templars still had positions within the Roman Empire. However, during the same year, the Assassin Aquilus, guided by his father Lucius, had begun taking down a number of Templars, until he got to his third target: the Roman general Gracchus. Being given entrance to Gracchus' military tent, he confronted Aquilus with the information he had gathered on the Assassin's activities. Trying to prevent Aquilus from killing him, Gracchus stabbed Aquilus in the chest;[8] however, the wound was not fatal, and the Romans were quickly attacked by Alamans.[2] Around this time, the Roman senator Caius Fulvus Vultur - a secret Templar - traveled to Lugdunum to meet with his old contact Lucius; at the same time, Aquilus was traveling home to Lugdunum, carrying with him the Ankh, an ancient artifact capable of reviving the dead which Aquilus retrieved from his Alaman cousin Accipiter. Lucius and Aquilus, both unaware of Vultur's affiliations, had Vultur stay in their home temporarily. The same night, Aquilus interrogated the Templar priest Faustin, whom Lucius suspected on having informed Gracchus. Simultaneously, Vultur betrayed Lucius, killing him and taking possession of the Ankh. Faustin revealed Vultur's ties to Aquilus, who rushed back home, only to find his father dead and the Ankh gone.[2] Middle AgesEdit Formation as a Knightly OrderEdit In 1118,[9] Bernard de Clairvaux decided the Templars needed the Church as an ally. He sent nine men to Solomon's Temple: upon their return nine years later, Grand Master Hugues de Payens and Bernard created the Latin Rule, and reorganized the Templars into a public Order of knights, whose apparent sole purpose was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land.[6] In the 1129 Council of Troyes, the Order was officially recognized by the church, and in 1139, Pope Innocent II granted them diplomatic immunity in all provinces and territories and exemption from taxes. This allowed the faction to grow in numbers, strength and wealth quickly, and as they became a larger force, their responsibilities increased accordingly: the Order's many members were prominent figures in the Second Crusade.[10] Quest for the ChaliceEdit In 1190, the Templars had come into possession of a powerful artifact simply known as the Chalice. Hiding it away in the Temple of the Sand, and needing three keys to unlock it. The Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad managed to obtain the keys and break into the Temple in search of the Chalice. Taking the Chalice back to Tyre, the Templars prepared to set sail with it, however they were again confronted by the Assassin, who managed to kill Lord Basilisk. The Templars, however, succeeded in taking the Chalice.[11] Third CrusadeEdit By 1191, the Templars had come under the leadership of Robert de Sable. The Templars joined in the Third Crusade that was waging in the Holy Land, and De Sable started secretly recruiting men on both sides of the war. Among these were Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat and Sibrand on the Crusader side, and Tamir, Talal, Abu'l Nuqoud, Majd Addin and Jubair al Hakim on the Saracen side. Unknown to the Assassins however, was that Al Mualim, the Mentor himself had joined with the Templar cause, though only as a means to obtain the Apple for himself. These ten men found an Apple of Eden together in Solomon's Temple, and made a few discoveries with it.[1] http://images.wikia.com/assassinscreed/images/8/81/Siege_of_Masyaf_1.jpgRobert de Sable leading the Templars to Masyaf.Added by AltaïrWhen Robert de Sable and a few of his men went to retrieve it from the temple, though, their progress was delayed by a small group of Assassins consisting of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf, who were sent by Al Mualim to retrieve the treasure. Despite Altaïr being routed, Kadar's death, and Malik losing his arm, the artifact was brought into Assassin possession. This event prompted Robert to lead his men to an attack on the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf, but as soon as they arrived at the fortress gates, they were routed by a wave of falling tree logs.[1] Al Mualim sent Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad on a quest to take down the other Templars. One by one, the Templars spread throughout the cities of Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem, fell to Altaïr's blade, until he was assigned to take down Robert de Sable. De Sable had foreseen when his time would come, and assigned Maria Thorpe to impersonate him at Majd Addin's funeral, while Robert himself would ride for Arsuf in an attempt to have the Crusaders and Saracens unite in the face of the “Assassins threat”. The Assassin fell for the trap, but quickly found out about Robert's true location. Robert and Altaïr engaged in a battle at Arsuf before Robert was successful in his plan, and Robert was defeated. Before dying, he revealed to Altaïr that the last Templar was his own master, and the Assassin rode off to his final target. After Altaïr killed Al Mualim, the Apple was ultimately lost to the Assassins. Modern timesEdit War of CurrentsEdit http://images.wikia.com/assassinscreed/images/c/ce/Ford_Edison_Firestone1.jpgThe three leaders of American industry, in Florida.Added by Master Sima YiBy the 19th century, the Templars had established a major foothold in the American industry, with important figures such as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone being Templars themselves.[5] During the late 1880s, Edison, who had created a direct current (DC) for electric power distribution, became an adversary of Nikola Tesla, his former employee who had created an alternating current (AC). Jealous of Tesla's more efficient invention, the Templars began to spread propaganda slandering Tesla, like electrocuting an elephant with AC electricity on public television. Additionally, Edison contacted his associate J. P. Morgan, who was financing Tesla, informing him of Tesla's intentions to make electricity free to all people and telling him to cut off Tesla's funds. Eventually, the Templars' efforts worked in their favor and DC electricity was distributed across the globe.[5] During the early 20th century, Ranny Olds and Henry Ford developed and popularized the assembly line, a manufacturing process, to control both capitalists and workers.[7] Russian RevolutionEdit During the late 19th century, the Templars started gaining strong influence over the Russian Empire and the ruling House of Romanov. Both Tsar Alexander II and Tsar Alexander III became strong allies of the Templar Order, and supported their goals. As a result, the Russian Assassins and its left-wing terrorist offspring the Narodnaya Volya targeted the Romanovs, eventually managing to kill Tsar Alexander II in 1881. The Assassin Nikolai Orelov made an attempt on the life of Tsar Alexander III, in which he was unsuccessful due to the Tsar's surprising strength, stamina and his possession of a Staff of Eden, and the event eventually turned into the Borki train disaster.[20] Tsar Alexander III died in 1894 of kidney failure. His son Nicholas II, who was not an ally to the Templars, gained control over the Empire, and the Templar agent Grigori Rasputin infiltrated Nicholas' close circle by "miraculously" healing his son. After being close enough, Rasputin replaced the Staff of Eden with a replica,[21] taking the real artefact to a Templar research station in Tunguska.[5] http://images.wikia.com/assassinscreed/images/3/30/Tungaska_Explod_v.pngThe Tunguska explosion.Added by Vatsa1708In 1908, Orelov obtained the station's location and, together with a group of other Assassins, was sent to destroy the artifact. While the Assassins killed the Templars inside and secured the station, their ally Nikola Tesla sent a bolt of electricity from the USA, causing the station to explode and the Staff to be scattered into pieces; known commonly as the Tunguska explosion.[22] Rasputin somehow managed to obtain one of those pieces and used it to hypnotize and control the Imperial family.[21] Rasputin himself was later killed by the Assassins, and the Templars lost control over Russia.[5] The Russian Imperial family was overthrown during the Russian Revolution, and power shifted to Vladimir Lenin, an ally of the Assassins and leader of the newly formed Soviet Union. Unbeknownst to them, Lenin's subordinate Joseph Stalin was secretly a Templar[5] and took over control of the Soviet Union after Lenin's death. The Templars, who had previously created the capitalistic economic system, hoped to control the people through owning capitalistic companies, as opposed to having people own the companies.[7] The company would go on to control a lot of corporations and organizations, including the Ford Motor Company, NASA, the CIA[5] and BP.[7] World War IIEdit In the late 1930s, Adolf Hitler, a secret Templar, began to take over political control over Germany. After having assumed full control, Hitler used an Apple of Eden to form Nazi Germany and hypnotize the population to join his cause. With this newfound support, Hitler began to declare "war" on Germany's neighboring countries, quickly conquering them. A worldwide war - World War II - soon erupted, but the entire war was a Templar plot to keep the people in control.[5] http://images.wikia.com/assassinscreed/images/2/26/Yaltatemplarsummit.jpgThe Big Three at the Yalta Conference.Added by Darkmosconi97While the entire war was overseen by the Templars, the world was split between two forces. On one side of the war stood the Axis, primarily led by Hitler and Benito Mussolini. On the other side stood the Allied forces, led by the Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin; the Big Three.[5] On 30 April 1945, Hitler shot his own double inside his Führerbunker to make the people believe he had died, while the real Hitler planned to take the Apple of Eden and meet with Churchill. However, an Assassin had been biding his time outside the Führerbunker, and assassinated Hitler before the latter could make the meeting.[5] Overthrowing governmentsEdit During the 1950s and 1970s, Abstergo Industries heavily involved themselves with opening up the markets to capitalism.[7] In 1953, the Templars orchestrated the overthrowing of Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, to make the constitutional monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into an authoritarian one. The Shah, SAVAK and Sha'baan Ja'fari terrorized citizens and protected capitalist oil interests, which Mossadegh wanted to go to the people.[7] Abstergo planned the 1954 coup d’état against Guetemalan president Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán.[7] JFK assassination and Apollo 11Edit In the 1960s, the Templars sought to obtain an Apple of Eden that was located on the Moon. However, President John F. Kennedy, who also had an Apple of Eden in his possession, did not share the Templars' motives and thus the Templars planned to get rid of Kennedy.[5] http://images.wikia.com/assassinscreed/images/9/9d/JFKassassination.pngJFK in his car, moments before the assassination.Added by Master Sima YiOn 22 November 1963, Kennedy was planned to drive around Dallas, Texas, and the Templars appointed William Greer as his driver, while Lee Harvey Oswald would be the primary assassin and Abraham Zapruder the secondary assassin. Oswald shot Kennedy with several bullets, while Greer grabbed the Piece of Eden in the confusion. Moments afterwards, the Templars made a "phantom" appear on the hill in the background to cause more chaos. After Kennedy's death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was also a secret Templar, became President of the United States.[5] On 20 July 1969, the Templar organization NASA had sent the Apollo 11 to the Moon to obtain the Apple of Eden, which turned out to be a successful mission.[5] Dissolving communismEdit During the late 20th century, Templars made plans to stand up to communism in several countries, being successful in overthrowing several communistic governments.[7] Abstergo manipulated the American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger into orchestrating the 1973 coup d’état against Chilean president Salvador Allende, who had gained much popularity with the people and wanted the people to own Chile's corporations. Templars removed Allende and replaced him with general Augusto Pinochet, who installed a military Junta. Templars promised the Chilean capitalists to ensure the Junta remained in power, they would transfer all corporate debt to Argentina.[7] During the 1990s, the Templars manipulated Margaret Thatcher, a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to contact Boris Yeltsin and inform him that Mikhail Gorbachev, the head of the Soviet Union, did not bear the company's interest at heart. Yeltsin stood up against communism, causing Gorbachev to lose popularity. In December 1991, Yeltsin unseated Gorbachev and became President of the Russian Federation.[7] Alexander_the_Great.jpg|Alexander the Great cain slew his bro.jpg|Cain- the founder of The Templars Knights.png|The Templar emblem adolf-hitler-2648624.jpg|The great Templar Dictator